galanthophile - definition of galanthophile in English | Oxford Dictionaries Definition of galanthophile in English: galanthophile A person who collects snowdrops: ‘the anonymous bidder bought the highly prized bulb on eBay, beating competition from other galanthophiles’ More example sentences ‘Brooks has quite a collection of snowdrops to give the garden some winter interest..but he doesn't see himself going down the knee-challenging path of the serious galanthophiles, who have to stoop to inspect the objects of their admiration.’ ‘Right now is the highlight of the galanthophile's year, with snowdrop articles in all the gardening magazines, and many people visiting the gardens of stately homes with outstanding snowdrop displays.’ ‘Over special snowdrop lunches this month, he and some 10 to 20 other galanthophiles will inspect the latest blooms.’ ‘Colesbourne Park is open every weekend in February and whether you are a galanthophile or not this is a hauntingly beautiful winter landscape that is definitely worth exploring.’ ‘When her plants are at their best, she holds a 'snowdrop lunch' for these galanthophiles who represent the most authoritative of a growing band of gardeners obsessed by this unassuming little

 spring flower.’ ‘I've absolutely no idea what variety they are, and would probably need to call in a dedicated galanthophile equipped with magnifying glass and kneepads to help me identify them.’ ‘In my article Snowdrops or the Confessions of a Galanthophile, I revealed that I am obsessed with snowdrops.’ ‘To some, the subtle variations between species is intoxicating - snowdrop-junkies, or galanthophiles as they are more commonly known, are greedy to collect as many different varieties as they can.’ ‘I'm another galanthophile and have enjoyed looking at just a few of the recent posts here.’ ‘The man who married my wife first time round was a Galanthophile.

He could tell you every detail of every snowdrop, but he had no recollection of that wedding.’ Origin Late 19th century (as galanthophil): blend of Galanthus (the snowdrop's taxonomic name, from Greek gala, galakt- milk and anthos flower) and -phile. Pronunciation Which is the correct spelling? persistent Which is the correct spelling? turbulent Which is the correct spelling? settlemant Which is the correct spelling? abundent Which is the correct spelling? incident Which is the correct spelling? adament Which is the correct spelling? observant Which is the correct spelling? contestant Which is the correct spelling? hesitant Which is the correct spelling? independant You scored /10 practise again?

Retry Most popular in the world Australia collecting snowdrops | CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS | Page 2 CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS THE JOY OF GARDENING IN THE SHADOWS Archive for collecting snowdrops Posted in bulbs for shade , Shade Perennials , snowdrops , winter , winter interest with tags Avon Bulbs , Carolyn's Shade Gardens , Charles Cresson , collecting snowdrops , galanthophile , galanthus , most popular snowdrops , snowdrop bulbs , snowdrop catalogue , snowdrop plants , snowdrop species , snowdrops , snowdrops for sale U.S. , snowdrops in the green , top 25 snowdrops on January 27, 2014 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens Nursery News: The 2017 Snowdrop Catalogue, featuring snowdrops and other winter interest plants like cyclamen and hellebores, is posted here , and we are taking orders now for mail order and pick up at the nursery in late February or early March. Number 25: ‘Blewbury Tart’, for a profile of this wonderful double snowdrop selected by Alan Street at Avon Bulbs, click here . Available CSG.

Snowdrops plants generally feature a little white flower with green marks on the inner segments (petals). Sometimes the marks are yellow or nonexistent or on the outside and inside, sometimes the flower is mostly green, and sometimes the flower is double or spiky or otherwise aberrant. The leaves can be gray-green or bright green or pleated. Although that is definitely an oversimplification, from those few characteristics, sharp eyed galanthophiles have selected and named over 1,000 cultivars of snowdrop plants, some say as many as 1,500. . Number 24: ‘Brenda Troyle’, a vigorous older variety from the 1930s grown for its cupped outer segments and strong honey fragrance, profiled here . Available CSG. Many people believe, myself included, that there are way too many named snowdrop cultivars, and a lot of them are virtually indistinguishable. But ‘it is what it is’ as the saying goes, and collectors just have to deal with the plethora of choices.

However, making choices just became a whole lot easier for me when I discovered that the well-respected British snowdrop nursery Avon Bulbs conducted a survey among its customers to rank their 25 favorite snowdrops. Alan Street from Avon has graciously allowed me to use the survey. I want to thank Julian Wormald at the Welsh blog thegardenimpressionists for giving me the idea for this post. . Number 23: ‘Mrs. Thompson’, selected in the 1950s, produces desirable mutations often with 5 outer segments, for photos click here . . Number 22: Galanthus nivalis, a straight species, the common snowdrop is a great naturalizer, profiled here . Available CSG. Snowdrop plants are covered by CITES, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. CITES prevents shipment of snowdrop bulbs over international borders without expensive and time-consuming permitting. CITES has curtailed the availability of a wide range of snowdrop plants in the U.S.

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is working to increase the choices, and I have added “available CSG” to indicate which plants from the Avon ranking we sell or have sold (although many are sold out). Unlike U.S. galanthophiles, Avon’s customers throughout the European Union have access to the full range of snowdrop bulbs available, both through purchase from bulb companies and by trading with fellow enthusiasts. . Number 21: ‘Straffan’, an indestructible Irish snowdrop selected in the late 1800s and the third oldest snowdrop still being sold, photo Jonathan Shaw. Available CSG. Avon asked all their customers ordering in 2012 and 2013 to pick their top three snowdrops. From their answers, Avon compiled a weighted ranking of the top 25 choices. The snowdrop plants that made the list all have beautiful and sometimes unusual flowers. However, it is clear from the list that Avon’s customers valued vigorous garden plants, no matter how long they have been around, over the newest and most sought after cultivars.

In this post I will profile Numbers 13 through 25, providing a short description and a photo (or a link to a photo on the wonderful website Judy’s Snowdrops ). In the next post, I will cover 1 through 12. . Number 20: ‘Hippolyta’, a lovely Greatorex double snowdrop selected in the first half of the 20th century. Available CSG. . Number 19: ‘Anglesey Abbey’, a highly variable form, sometimes almost pure white with the inner and outer segments the same length (poculiform). . Number 18: ‘Robin Hood’, first mentioned in 1891, large flowers with an X-shaped mark, for a photo click here . . Number 17: Galanthus gracilis, a species snowdrop with unusual twisted leaves and elegant markings on the flower. Available CSG 2013. .

galanthophile | CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS | Page 2 CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS THE JOY OF GARDENING IN THE SHADOWS Archive for galanthophile Nursery News: The 2017 Snowdrop Catalogue, featuring snowdrops and other winter interest plants like cyclamen and hellebores, is posted here , and we are taking orders. All snowdrops are great companions for hellebores. I have written a lot of articles about snowdrops, covering among other topics their ornamental characteristics, fascinating history, the importance of provenance, and profiling many cultivars. For links to all my previous snowdrop posts, click here . I have never, however, talked in detail about any of the snowdrop species from which cultivated snowdrops, now numbering over 1,000, have been selected. I hope this post will be the first in a series discussing each of the more important snowdrop species. Much of the information in this post comes from Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus by Matt Bishop et al. (Griffin Press 2006) which is absolutely indispensable if you are researching or collecting snowdrops. .

Common snowdrops pair well with snow crocus (just visible in the background) and really bring out the silver patterning on the leaves of Italian arum, which look fresh all winter. . Common snowdrops are a wonderful companion for the leaves and flowers of winter-blooming hardy cyclamen. . Common snowdrops look great paired with native coral bells, many of which keep their bright leaf colors all winter. Brian Capon in his very handy book Botany for Gardeners defines a species as a “group of individuals sharing many characteristics and interbreeding freely.” Generally these individuals are growing in the wild and have a defined native range. There are 20 types of snowdrops that meet this definition and constitute the genus Galanthus, but only three of them have given rise to most of the named snowdrops: G. nivalis, G. elwesii, and G. plicatus. Here I want to discuss Galanthus nivalis otherwise known as the common snowdrop although it is by no means common in any sense of the word and would be one of the first snowdrops I would add to my collection if I had to start over.

In fact, it has received a coveted Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. . Common snowdrops naturalize quickly in the mid-Atlantic U.S. generally by producing bulb offsets. . The common snowdrop has the largest native range of any snowdrop species and is the species most widely grown by gardeners. It is native to western, central, and southern Europe from France to the part of Turkey in Europe. It was first mentioned in print in the 16th century when it was already being grown as an ornamental plant. Linnaeus named it Galanthus nivalis in 1753. According to another fascinating book, Plant Names Explained (Horticulture 2005), gala means milk, -anthus means -flowered, and nivalis means snowy or snow-like. Common snowdrops fill our gardens here at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens, which is part of an old estate called Wayside dating back to the 1600s (we live in Wayside Cottage which formerly housed the gardener). . Galanthus nivalis, the common snowdrop Common snowdrops are generally 4 to 6 inches tall.

The narrow, straplike leaves are green with a glaucous center stripe giving an overall gray-blue appearance. The flowers have three outer petal-like segments and three smaller inner segments. They are pure white with a bright green v-shaped mark around the notch (called a sinus) on the apex of the inner segments. Common snowdrops flower here in February and March no matter what the weather and prefer moist deciduous woods with deep organic soil. However, they are not picky about cultural conditions and will naturalize freely in a wide range of garden settings, including the dry woods of Carolyn’s Shade Gardens. They pair beautifully with native coral bells, snow crocus, Italian arum, hardy cyclamen, and hellebores. . A natural mutation at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens, if you look closely these flowers have four outer segments (petals). Because common snowdrops generally spread through bulb offsets rather than seed, the flowers in colonies are theoretically identical. However, natural variations occur as you can see from the photo above where the flowers have four outer segments. Often these mutations are not stable and do not persist as was the case with the flowers pictured.

However, sometimes ornamentally interesting and stable changes occur, and, if they are noticed by a sharp-eyed galanthophile, they enter cultivated gardens and even become a named cultivar available for sale. . A clump of double common snowdrops . double common snowdrop I want to highlight three cultivars of the common snowdrop to give you an idea of the range available. The double common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Pleno’ (or sometimes G. n. f. pleniflorus ‘Flore Pleno’), is the oldest known snowdrop cultivar, first illustrated in 1703 and described in a prominent gardener’s dictionary in 1731. Although it is sterile, it spreads vigorously from bulb offsets and is tolerant of a wide range of cultural conditions. I have been told that in England it is often more abundant than the straight species. ‘Flore Pleno’ has a lovely flower and has the advantage of being less expensive than the rest of the double snowdrops available so it is great for naturalizing. It is the parent with G.

plicatus of the Greatorex double series of snowdrops to which ‘Dionysus’, ‘Hippolyta’, ‘Ophelia’, and several other double snowdrops belong. ‘Flore Pleno’ was also given an Award of Garden Merit by the RHS. . . ‘Viridiapice’ One of my favorite snowdrops is the green-tipped common snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis ‘Viridapice’. It was originally found near an old farmhouse in northern Holland by a member of the Hoog family, owners of the venerable but now defunct Dutch bulb nursery Van Tubergen. It is a vigorous and large-flowered snowdrop characterized by a beautiful and strikingly prominent green marking on the apex of the outer segments and a large single mark on the inner segments. Unfortunately, the name ‘Viridapice’ was applied over the years to a number of different green-tipped common snowdrops, some of which are quite inferior. I acquired my strain from the old Heronswood Nursery in Kingston, Washington, and I am happy to report that it is a superior strain and one of the best naturalizers in my garden. . the double common snowdrop ‘Blewbury Tart’ .

‘Blewbury Tart’ Finally, I want to highlight a newer cultivar of the common snowdrop, because I love it and because it was discovered by the only person I know who is more excited about snowdrops than me, Alan Street of Avon Bulbs in England. In 1975, Alan noticed ‘Blewbury Tart’ in a churchyard in the village of Blewbury in Oxfordshire, England, where he grew up, and collected it with the permission of Vicar Hugh Pickles. The famous galanthophile Primrose Warburg helped to name it because she called it Blewbury Muffin when Alan gave it to her, thus inspiring the name ‘Blewbury Tart’. I asked Alan if there was a special anecdote that I could relate here. He told me that when he first exhibited it in 1985, a prominent British journalist said it looked like a “squashed fly on a windscreen”. Nevertheless Avon offered it for sale in 1992. It is an unruly double with an outward-facing dark green inner rosette encircled by three narrow outer segments. It looks like it is having a bad hair day and always makes me smile when I see it.

Alan relates that another prominent British galanthophile, Ruby Baker, considers it a favorite. * * * Although I don’t expect most gardeners to share my obsession, whenever I write about snowdrops I hope to communicate some of the enthusiasm that snowdrops arouse. Maybe you will add them to your garden this year! All four snowdrops profiled are available from Carolyn’s Shade Gardens. Carolyn . Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a local retail nursery in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S., zone 6b/7a. The only plants that we mail order are snowdrops and miniature hostas and only within the US. If you are within visiting distance and would like to receive catalogues and information about customer events, please send your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information. Facebook: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens has a Facebook Page where I post single photos, garden tips, and other information that doesn’t fit into a blog post. You can look at my Facebook page here or click the Like button on my right sidebar here .

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here . How does your garden grow: the snowdrop collector | Life and style | The Guardian How does your garden grow? How does your garden grow: the snowdrop collector ‘Most galanthophiles look for snowdrops in old gardens. I am breeding orange ones and then crossing them to get a more intense colour,’ says Joe Sharman ‘I have 1,700 snowdrops in my collection.’ Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Guardian Saturday 14 February 2015 01.00 EST Last modified on Tuesday 20 September 2016 06.04 EDT Share on Messenger Close I got my very first snowdrop when I was 23 and studying horticulture at Writtle College in Chelmsford. It was Galanthus reginae-olgae and it was given to me by plantsman Bill Baker who had collected it in the Peloponnese.

I now have 1,700 different snowdrops in my collection. ‘Wendy’s Gold’ was the snowdrop that got me into the collectors’ inner circle. I got a call from my mother who had spotted an unusual clump when out walking, and I realised that it was far more vigorous than the yellows that were around at the time. The RHS magazine The Garden published a picture in spring 1987 and I immediately got letters and phonecalls from people who wanted one – and an invitation from legendary galanthophile Primrose Warburg to attend her snowdrop party, where you could meet anyone who was anyone. I was later asked to propagate another exciting new snowdrop, ‘EA Bowles’ and that got a lot of attention, too. Most galanthophiles look for snowdrops in old gardens, particularly where there were good collections in Victorian times that might have hybridised. I consciously set out to create them and have breeding programmes to create things that do not exist. I am breeding orange ones and then crossing them to get a more intense colour. And I want to create a hybrid double yellow: no one has managed it yet. G.

‘Trym’ is normally pagoda-shaped with green markings; creating a yellow one took me 10 years and it will take me another 10 to produce enough to sell. And people wonder why snowdrops are so expensive. In summer, I breed persicaria and I have the best collection of snowflakes (Leucojum) anywhere in the world; I also have a nursery to run ( monksilvernursery.co.uk ). When it is not snowdrop season I go to every boot sale and antique fair I can find, to collect things with snowdrops on. They come up early in the year when nothing else is growing, so if you have the kind of brain that needs lots of things to think about, you focus in. They seem to be almost infinitely variable. You collect the 10 you recognise, then you realise that you can recognise 20 and it just goes from there. I don’t think there is another group of plants quite like it. My favourite spot No matter how busy I am, I always make time to pop by and look at the seed boxes – it takes about five years from crossing the plants to seeing the results. Every day the bud gets bigger and bigger until finally the flower emerges.

It is like watching your baby being born. • How does your garden grow? Email space@theguardian.com Hitch Lyman- Galanthophile | Rooting for Ideas Rooting for Ideas Posted on March 11, 2016 by Don Statham Spring has come a month early to the Catskills. I am re-posting an old post on Hitch Lyman’s wonderful collection of snowdrops. If you haven’t been it’s worth the trip. This year Hitch will open his garden on Saturday, March 19, 11a.m-3p.m. It was early April when we left our house and the garden was under several inches of snow. Down the valley, just a few miles away, there was no snow at all. It’s very upsetting to find out that you not only have worse weather than anyone else in your region, but that even within spitting distance others are enjoying an early spring that has yet to reach your door. After driving two hours west we arrived outside Ithaca on a beautiful spring day, at the garden of Hitch Lyman, snowdrop collector extraordinaire. The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program was featuring Hitch’s garden that contains 400 varieties of snowdrops.

A passionate Galanthus-snowdrop collector, Hitch has the largest snowdrop collection in the U.S., which is no small feat. He began Temple Nursery 20 years ago, which boasts five acres covered in a variety of plants including his extensive snowdrops collection and, needless to say, a classic Greek temple. Hitch also collects lilacs, Saunder’s hybrid peonies, species peonies, colchicums, Anemone nemerosas, Ranunculas fiscaria, horse chestnuts and fritillary species, and unusual perennials. Mixed snowdrops. We were there to see the snowdrops and boy did we see snowdrops. Planted at the base of many shrubs and trees, along a garden path winding through a wooded area, there were hundreds of clumps of them coming up through decaying leaves. Hitch took a group of us around his garden and in no time at all we were on our hands and knees looking up at a multitude of patterns of green, white, and yellow markings that distinguish one of these drooping beauties from another. Galanthus has 19 species and about 500 cultivars.

Each group was marked with plastic labels because in a few weeks they would be dug up, divided and sold “in the green,” as the British refer to it. “Selling in the green” is considered by many to be a better way of establishing the plants than from planting them from bulbs. When I asked Hitch what his favorite snowdrop was, he replied, “the one in front of me!” When Hitch got his Greek Revival farmhouse it was sitting on a flat piece of land. He built a pond and after finding four Doric columns in a salvage yard, he proceeded to make a temple. A true Classicist, Hitch needed a temple and, in this climate, one with a roaring fire in it to sit next to while taking a break from gardening. On the temple’s interior walls surrounding the fireplace Hitch had sketched murals of landscape scenes in charcoal. Outside at the back of the temple and concealed behind two large wooden doors we were shown a small room stuffed to the ceiling with garden tools. Hitch quickly closed the door for fear of a garden missile falling on one of us! Beyond the temple we walked into a garden surrounded by mature yew hedges, tall lilacs, fruit trees and many other plants still dormant.

Barely out of winter nothing was showing any signs of life except for the snowdrops and snowflakes (Leucojum vernum). At first glance snowflakes- look similar to snowdrops but are, in fact, a different genus. Hitch began his horticultural journey at Cornell in landscape architecture, part of the Horticulture Department, and then switched to fine arts in the college of architecture. After completing his studies he moved to New York City. He had been helping on the side to make gardens, and when the gallery that showed his work closed this became his primary way of earning his living. He had gardened as a boy and along the way picked up plant knowledge working in nurseries. He became specifically interested in snowdrops when in 1975 he read My Garden in Spring by E.A. Bowles. On a visit to London in 1988 and at one of the monthly Royal Horticulture Society shows he saw Foxgrove Plants’ snowdrops display. Behind the booth was Audrey Vockins who would later become his friend and snowdrop mentor. Hitch admitted to her that he thought all the snowdrops looked alike.

She showed him the intricate patterns on each of the groups of snowdrops on display and from that time on he was hooked. Interior of temple- murals by Hitch. Hitch explained that when he began a study of snowdrops there was still a lot of confusion in the literature due in part to F.C. Stern’s Snowdrops and Snowflakes (1956). Over the last 15 years there has been very good work taxonomically and horticulturally done on the genus. The confusion spurred the likes of Richard Nutt, who Hitch was pleased to know, to write a great survey for the Alpine Garden Society’s Encyclopedia of Alpines in 1993. Also Aaron David published in 1999 The Genus Galanthus and cleared up much of the taxonomic confusion. Matt Bishop in 2001 published Snowdrops, a Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus, which is known in circles as “The Bible.” He has begun working on a second volume aptly named “The New Testament.” In his 2011 catalogue, Hitch offered 31 varieties of snowdrops and he aims to increase that number.

He has sold about 120 types to American gardens. He sends out his catalogue in January and is sold out by March. He digs the orders in April, washes the plants clean, and sends them in flower or just after by fast mail. When replanted immediately and watered in, they seem to do well. I ordered several and planted them under an avenue of birch trees in a new woodland walk area of my garden. I was very impressed with the plants I received. Each plant was wrapped in bubble wrap for protection, and the roots were still moist when they arrived. Hitch showing us snowdrops. I went online and ordered the book Snowdrops by Matt Bishop, which showed me how limited my previous snowdrop purchases had been. Most bulb catalogs cannot offer the interesting selection being grown by Hitch, and in my experience the bulbs do not always do very well. Planting “in the green” is the way most Galanthus collectors sell their plants. The prices range from $5 to $75. It might seem a little expensive but in no time the plant will clump up and can be divided for years to come.

The generic name Galanthus, from the Greek gala (milk) and anthos (flower), was given to the genus by Carl Linnaeus . He described Galanthus nivalis in his Species Plantarum published in 1753, which is the most common and widespread snowdrop in Europe. The epithet nivalis means “of the snow,” referring either to the snow-like flower or the plant’s early flowering.Britain has many Galanthus collectors. It is believed G. nivalis, the first snowdrop to arrive to Britain, was introduced by the Romans. In the Middle Ages white flowers were associated with purity, and more snowdrops were brought to Britain where they were planted in places of pilgrimage in honor of the Virgin Mary. In the 1880’s G. elwesii was discovered in Turkey and later imported in large numbers. The Victorians considered snowdrops a symbol of purity and created Snowdrop Leagues for young ladies. They were often planted on graves because of their ability to thrive. Nowadays churchyards are a prime place for galanthophiles searching out new varieties.

Their popularity seems to be growing which was made clear to me when I met some of the people who had driven from as far away as Potsdam, NY (near the Canadian border), to see Hitch’s collection. Another man who had driven some three and a half hours had clearly got the collecting bug. He knew a great many of the names of the snowdrops we were looking at and had come back to the garden to see more. Hitch ships snowdrops to a wide area of the northern U.S. He said they fail south of North Carolina, flourish in the Pacific Northwest, New England, Philadelphia and Baltimore areas, and upstate New York. They want a cold winter and a cool summer. I love plants that flourish in our arctic conditions and for once I can feel a little smug about having plants that southerners and people in warmer climates can’t have. When thinking of a planting site, good drainage and good light are top priorities. Snowdrops will not survive in stagnant wet soil. Planting them below evergreens will be a bonus because the plants will stand out against the dark green background.

It’s fine to plant under deciduous trees because when the plants come into flower the trees have yet to leaf out, and they will get the sunlight they need to thrive. Steep banks are a good place to plant, because of the good drainage a bank offers. Do not use wood or bark chip mulches as they can lead to a depletion of the soil. Bone meal is a good slow release fertilizer to use when the plant is dormant. Mighty Atom Snowdrop When I lived in Scotland, which is a much milder climate, the snowdrops flowered in January and February and there were acres and acres of them flowering in the woods. I don’t believe they were ever divided, but naturalize over the years. With our harsh climate, it makes sense to divide them to increase their numbers. By planting a few snowdrops you will be greeting spring as early as possible. I think of this plant as one that joins the two seasons. Its name implies winter, but the small green flecks of pattern suggest what’s coming. donstathamblog.com To order a catalogue send $3.00 to Hitch Lyman, Temple Nursery, P.O.

Box 591, Trumansburg, NY 14886. Share this: galanthophile | brookend cottage garden brookend cottage garden by Mary When I lived in Japan, one of my favourite customs was hanami. Its literal translation is ‘flower viewing’. But the true definition should be ‘cherry blossom fever’. Daily forecasts in the media track a blossom-wave that spreads from south to north. And there is intense excitement as people try to predict the optimum date for picnics and parties under the flowering trees. I’ve only recently noticed that we have our own version of hanami here, albeit quieter and slightly more British. Snowdrop tours seem to be quite the thing in February. Maybe it’s because there are so few flowers around at this time of year, or perhaps people appreciate their apparent fragility combined with steely resilience. Whatever the reason, it’s good to get outside for a couple of hours and persuade ourselves that spring isn’t too far away. in the green I’m no galanthophile, but I do like snowdrops. There were some in the garden when we moved here, but there’s always room for a few more.

Apparently it’s best to plant them ‘in the green’ – that is, when the bulbs still have leaves rather than when they’re dry and dormant. It’s more expensive to buy them this way, but I was lucky enough to cadge some growing in my parents’ field last time I visited. snowdrops in the green, courtesy of mum & dad (I didn’t even have to dig them up…) I planted them out between showers on Sunday. A few went by the back door so we can see them as we come and go. But I also chose some spots across the garden that we can see from the house. Although they are small, the bright white flowers make quite an impact even from a distance. I planted a few clumps around this witch hazel, my hope is that they will multiply and form drifts in time. As with most things I do in the garden, I only thought to look for advice once they were planted. It seems it may have been better to wait until the foliage was dying down rather than transplanting them in full flower. I’m not sure they went in deep enough either. But I have faith in the little bulbs and I’m quite sure they will come back next year.

I’m now feeling tempted by some of these rarer varieties from Easton Walled Gardens. Perhaps I will turn into a galanthophile in my middle age. Share this: Pacific Bulb Society | Galanthus Contact Us Galanthus Galanthus is a genus in the Amaryllidaceae family with about 20 species distributed from Europe and western Asia to the Caspian Sea. It was the subject of the topic of the week in February 2004. Seeds should be planted straight away in May. Very lightly on the surface covered by compost peat etc and kept slightly humid throughout the summer. The plantlets appear at end of December (at the same time as the bulbs). Sowing later in the summer has resulted in the past in very mediocre results (Lauw de Jager). The Introduction was posted by John Grimshaw. Reference books are Snowdrops, by Matt Bishop, Aaron Davis and John Grimshaw, published by the Griffin Press and The Genus Galanthus by A.P. Davis from the Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, and Timber Press.

Galanthus × allenii Baker is considered to be a wild hybrid between Galanthus alpinus and Galanthus woronowii found in the Caucasus. It has broad grey green leaves. The flowers are almond scented. The outer segments are broadly ovate and the inner three segments are marked with green near the apex only. Photos by John Lonsdale . Galanthus alpinus is found in the Caucasus and Transcaucasus. Galanthus caucasicus commonly the Caucasian snowdrop is synonymous with Galanthus alpinus var. alpinus. It is often confused with Galanthus elwesii var. monostictus which is more common in the bulb trade. Photos of G. alpinus var alpinus taken in the Republic of Georgia by David Kikodze. Galanthus cilicicus Baker syn. Galanthus nivalis subsp. cilicicus (Baker) Gottl.-Tann. is native to southern Turkey. It flowers early in winter. Photos from John Lonsdale and Hans Joschko . Galanthus elwesii is native to Turkey. The first photo from Arnold Trachtenberg and the second from Jay Yourch .

The third photo is of a poculiform flower, that has no green marks, and all petals the same length. It appears to be male-sterile, as the anthers are a bit deformed and don't produce pollen. It flowers later than most of my elwesii, just opening in mid-February. It came from my grandparents' 5 acres of woodland in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They began the garden about 85 years ago, and snowdrops have been seeding themselves ever since. Most are G. elwesii, as it thrives in our dry summers. The fourth photo shows a seedpod which contained 22 seeds ripened in mid-April from a normal flower that bloomed in an unheated greenhouse at the end of January. The seeds look as though they have begun germinating, but instead, each has an elaiosome which attracts ants which then disperse the seeds. Third and fourth photos by Diane Whitehead . The last photo from John Lonsdale . Photos by David Pilling show Galanthus elwesii (left) compared with Galanthus nivalis (right) and close-ups of flowers.

Galanthus elwesii 'Jonathan' There is much interest in non-white snowdrops, if only because of the large sums of money for which such bulbs change hands. See this PBS list discussion to learn more. Photographs of 'Jonathan', an apricot flushed Galanthus elwesii, by Mark Brown. Galanthus elwesii var. monostictus is native to Turkey. Photos by Roland and Gemma Galanthus gracilis is distributed from Bulgaria to southwestern Ukraine, western Turkey and the Aegean Islands where it grows from 100 m to 2000 m. It is found in a wide variety of habitats: mixed woodland, short grass, scrub, between rocks and on or at the base of cliffs, and next to rivers and streams, often in deep fertile soils at a depth of 10 to 20 cm. It is similar to Galanathus elwesii and has narrow, upright leaves, which are frequently twisted on the vertical axis giving the leaves a corkscrew-like appearance. Photo from John Lonsdale. Galanthus ikariae is native to the Aegean Islands off the coast of Greece.

It's small, even for a snowdrop, with arching foliage, which is often matt. Compared to Galanthus woronowii Galanthus ikariae has an inner green mark that reaches to at least half way up and the leaves are darker. Photograph by Anthony Darby of plant growing in his garden in Dunblane, Scotland. Galanthus krasnovii is native to the Caucasus. It has a very small narrow, almost pointed, inner petal. See CITES Bulbs for more information. Photograph by Anthony Darby of plants growing in his garden in Dunblane, Scotland. Galanthus nivalis see the Galanthus nivalis page. Representative photos of this species by David Pilling . Galanthus 'Otto Fauser ' is an Australian raised snowdrop named for a highly esteemed plantsman in this country. Photo in July by Lyn Edwards , Canberra Australia. Galanthus peshmenii grows in scrub and rocky places in southwest Turkey and Greece. It flowers in the fall. First photo by John Lonsdale . Second photo by Jane McGary . Third and fourth photos by Oron Peri show G.

peshmenii in the wild in southwestern Turkey, where it favors very well drained sites such as steep banks in dappled shade. A large colony was even seen in the duff that had collected on top of a large boulder. Galanthus platyphyllus from Georgia and the Caucasus at 2000 m. The Greek epithet 'platyphyllus' means 'broadleaved'; it was described in 1948 and is related to Galanthus krasnovii . Photo 1 by Anthony Darby of plants growing in his garden in Dunblane, Scotland. Photos 2 to 4 by Roland and Gemma who say "These bulbs I found in-between Galanthus woronowii bulbs imported from Turkey. They are naturalising now in my garden". Galanthus plicatus 'Wendy's Gold' is a cultivar with yellow markings. Photos by John Lonsdale . Galanthus reginae-olgae is similar to Galanthus nivalis. It has variants that bloom from autumn to spring and is reasonably hardy. It is a native of dryish woodland at low altitudes. Photos by John Lonsdale .

Galanthus transcaucasicus , is distributed from S. & E. Transcaucasus to N. Iran. Photos by Hans Joschko who reports his plants are 6-8 cm. high. Galanthus woronowii , named for Russian plant-collector and botanist, Georg Woronow, has broad shiny green leaves; the flowers have a single v mark. From north-east Turkey, southern Russia and Georgia, it grows 6 inches high and is similar to Galanthus ikariae . Photo taken March 2007 by Jay Yourch . Photos by David Pilling . The third photo shows this species next to Galanthus nivalis . The fourth photo shows a bulb with offset and 1 inch diameter coin. Photo 4 shows the leaves (from left to right) of nivalis , woronowii, elwesii and nivalis. Photo 5 is of a seed pod and photo 6 shows the keel on the back of the leaf. Galanthus images in a collage. Grown and photographed in New Jersey by Arnold Trachtenberg . For more pictures of this genus see Mark Smyth's website and Judy's Snowdrops

Question: What does a 'Galanthophile' collect?
Answer: SNOWDROPS